EDUCATION: Completion Counts efforts becoming norm

Riverside’s efforts begun with a three-year grant to boost college graduation rates are becoming the normal way schools in the city and RCC operate, officials said Thursday, Nov. 8.

Cindy Taylor, director of Completion Counts, addressed representatives of other cities that also got grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve their college-going and graduation rates. Riverside’s $3 million grant is in its third and final year, and efforts are expected to continue now that schools and college educators have begun collaborating.

The foundation and National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education and Families supported a Communities Learning in Partnership Cross-Site Meeting at Riverside’s Mission Inn. Participants and speakers are sharing ways to help students graduate from college.

The recently retired chancellor of the California Community Colleges, Jack Scott, was keynote speaker, explaining the work of the Student Success Task Force. Its 22 recommendations were adopted in January by the system. Legislation for some recommendations was signed in August, a month before Scott retired.

The Riverside Community College District had already started some of those proposals, including working with schools to better prepare students for college.

More than 70 percent of students entering California’s community colleges need remedial math, English when they enroll, Scott said.

Riverside City College, the city of Riverside, and both the Riverside and Alvord unified school districts met to identify why students haven’t graduated in the past.

RCC had a 14 percent graduation rate when the city applied for the grant. Taylor said the goal is a 42 percent graduation rate by 2020.

To reach that, public high schools in the city are studying higher graduation requirements so more students will succeed once they get to college, Taylor said.

RCC and Completion Counts also created a two-year guarantee for students graduating from Riverside high schools. If students meet certain deadlines and requirements for math and English classes, fill out financial aid applications, plan their courses with counselors, attend full time and keep their grades up, they can get all the classes they need to graduate in two years.

Most of those requirements are among the recommendations Scott worked to develop and pass.

Community college graduates with a two-year associate’s degree or vocational certification earn about twice as much within three years as someone with only a high school diploma, Scott said. Those higher skill levels and earnings benefit their entire communities, he said.

Follow Dayna Straehley on Twitter: @dstraehley_PE and watch for her posts on the Inland Schools blog: http://blog.pe.com/schools/